


STG Annual Report - Structure and Capabilities of the Systems Alliance

by ValkyrieN7



Series: For the Lore, for the Universe [3]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Documentation, Other, Post-Canon, Post-Reaper War, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25716883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValkyrieN7/pseuds/ValkyrieN7
Summary: Sixteen years after the Reaper War, the galaxy has recovered from the devastation and is confidently heading into a new century. In a time of relative peace, a new hero must rise to battle forces that threatens to disturb the galactic equilibrium.
Relationships: EDI/Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Garrus Vakarian/Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Jack | Subject Zero/Miranda Lawson, James Vega/Ashley Williams, Male Shepard/Liara T'Soni
Series: For the Lore, for the Universe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1865287
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	1. Politics and Economy

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction, my take on a post-reaper war galaxy which fared rather well. I am trying to give shape to a alternate universe with lots of original characters, along with known faces who have moved on to become high-ranking officials and legends of the galaxy. I still don't know what shape this will take, for now I am focused on creating supplementary materials which describes what happened after the Reaper War.  
> This will be heavily based on EGM and JohnP's Alternate MEHEM mods of ME3, and totally ignores the consequences of Destroy ending (EDI and the Geth are alive and well). As the work progresses, I may focus on the Dark Energy theory of ME3 ending.  
> I am a huge fan of a lot of ME fanfic writers, and my work will have heavy impressions of them.

** Annual Report **

** Special Tasks Group, Salarian Union **

** January 10th, 2200 CE **

****

**Clearance Level: COBALT. For Dalatrass and STG Personnel View only. SPECTRE discretion is advised.**

**Topic: The Human Systems Alliance: Nature, Organizations, Remarkable Individuals, and Impact**

_Rakim Tomo, Senior Analyst, 1 st Research Wing_

The past century has been most certainly the most eventful and influencing in the history of the galaxy. The galactic civilization has endured the war with the sentient machine race known as the Reapers, and has ended what seems like an endless cycle of systematic genocide. The galactic community has ushered into a new future, apparently free from an extinction threat.

This victory would not have been possible without the involvement of the newest member of the galactic community – the Human race. The youngest council members have proven their ingenuity and grit in various situations and have become an integral part of the galaxy’s political, economic and military affairs within a short span of time. Especially, during the rebuilding period, the Systems Alliance is turning out to be more and more influential, expanding their control all across the galaxy.

Though the Salarian Union maintains a diplomatically friendly relation with the SA, it would be prudent to note that the expansionist policies of the humans and their remarkable military might prove a challenge to the rest of the Council races.

This dissertation has compiled a basic idea of the SA’s government and military, along with strategical points of interest. It also describes some of the individuals who are considered at Threat Level: OMEGA. These are exceptional individuals, and in the case of a military conflict, they must be dealt with utmost urgency and caution.

_Humanity, Earth and Systems Alliance_

Humans are a viviparous race originating in Earth aka Sol-3. The climate of Earth is similar to Sur’kesh, however it only has 70% of oceanic bodies compared to 85% of our own planet. Earth is divided into various biomes, with different ecological effects. Humans are the only sentient race and the apex predator of Earth. Geographically, Earth is divided into seven continents, surrounded by five oceans.

The human civilization is relatively younger compared to the Salarian one, with a history going back only 10,000 years or so. Their industrial revolution took place only 300 years ago, and humanity joined the galactic community only half a century ago. They have risen in the galactic stage at a breakneck pace, whilst the Volus do not have a council seat even after 1,500 years, the Elcor and Hanar still enjoy member status after almost a thousand, and even the Turians had to wait a hundred years for their council status. 

Humans have not yet been capable of forming a united government, in fact they have just started to attempt the prospect after a couple centuries wrought with worldwide conflict, especially three world wars. Earth’s only resemblance to a governing body is the United Nations, which has regional headquarters in New York, Shanghai and Geneva. The UN has the responsibility of Earth’s security, governance and development. The common misconception is that the Systems Alliance is the governing body of Humanity. It is in fact, a political-economical Alliance of Earth’s coalitions and its colonies, to protect their interests.

There are about two hundred nation-states on Earth, about fifty of them participating in the Systems Alliance and a similar number in the rival Union of Incorporated Nations. However, most of the nations are parts of political and economic coalitions, formed for security and space exploration. The United North American States, The Chinese People’s Federation, The European Union, The Eurasian Federation, The South Asian Federation and the South American Confederation are the most influential amongst these coalitions, each with a presence in space.

_Recent History of Humanity_

At the beginning of the 21st Century, humanity was just embracing a pan-global identity. The advancement of space exploration gave pace to this movement, however there were obvious impediments to it. The later half of 21st Century and the first half of the 22nd saw several large-scale yet low-intensity conflicts. The war against terror, which began on early 2000s and continued well into 2040s, was not devastating in a materialistic sense. It, however, took a severe toll on the collective morale of the people on Earth, and pushed the developed nations towards a global liberal identity in order to combat the terrorist networks. The large military powers found it more important to tackle rampant insurgency and terrorism than to combat each other.

Near the end of the Sino-American second cold war, there began a tendency to create federations and alliances. Europe became a pan-continent union in 2050, followed by the historic merger of Russia and Turkey in 2058, giving birth to the Eurasian Federation. In 2080, after a popular revolution, China, Taiwan and other Chinese territories merged to create the Chinese People’s Federation. Following this, in 2090 the USA, Canada and Mexico merged, forming the United North American States. There was violent protesting in the Southern and Midwestern states of USA against the coalition, giving birth to secessionist groups like Freedoms First. Secessionist states gradually became more and more hostile towards the government of UNAS, protesting and campaigning for a "pure" USA. The situation deteriorated in 2096, when Freedoms First staged a terrorist attack against the Statue of Liberty. The attack was followed immediately by UNAS surgical strikes all over the southern United States. Secessionist military response was fierce, culminating into the second American civil war. The loyalist forces along with Canadian forces defeated the secessionist forces by 2098. Appalachia, Ozarks and Florida separated from the UNAS; however, they were consumed back in 2120.

However, this was not the end of warfare in the human world. The newly-established UNAS and the CPF fought the first space war in the history of humanity in 2130, battling over colonizing rights in Luna and Mars. After brief skirmishes, a compromise was reached to settle Eos Chasma. Europeans had already settled Mars, establishing Lowell City.

It was an EU prospecting team that discovered the Prothean ruins on Mars in 2148, after a search-and-rescue mission unearthed the 50,000-year-old archives. This would, proverbially, end all conflict within humanity. After a global effort, the information remaining in the ruins' computers was translated, identifying the structure as a former observation and biosciences station, set up to receive and process data from Earth as the Protheans studied Cro-Magnon humans.

The Systems Alliance was established in 2149 comprising of eighteen nations and coalitions. As of 2199, SA consists of 68 nation-states, and 14 political coalitions. Amongst these, 50 nations and nine coalitions are from Earth. The rest have arisen from the colony worlds. The largest and most influential colony nation is Illyria, situated on Elysium. There are also various secessionist and rival entities against the SA, UNIN being one of them.

_Government, Populations and Worlds_

The Systems Alliance, as part of the Rio Accords, hold no sway over matters of Earth’s security and policies. However, it has a very close relationship with UN and a dissent between the two is not feasible. As Earth is dependent on resources from its colonies and vice-versa the SA is dependent on economic support from Earth, their relations are mutually beneficial. SA have the ultimate say in matters of human colonies. The government of SA is situated in the Arcturus Space Station. During the initial stages of the Reaper War, the station was destroyed; it was rebuilt in 2190. The SA is a parliamentary entity, with Prime Minister Ines Lindholm at the forefront. The Systems Alliance parliament is divided in two houses and is mostly based on the former British parliament. The houses comprise equally of representatives from Earth and the class-A colonies. The parliament decides about diplomatic relations, council matters and colonial matters. The security of human space is also under the purview of Systems Alliance.

The SA government had to be rebuilt almost entirely after the Reaper War. Prime Minister Amul Shastri and the entire line of succession were killed on Arcturus, and human councilor Donnel Udina was shot by one of his fellow humans during the second battle of the Citadel. The advisor to Udina, Admiral David Anderson, died heroically on the Citadel, during the ending moments of the Reaper War. The renewed government sees an influx of former career soldiers and career intellectuals – an interesting mirror to the Israeli parliament. The upper house of the parliament contains many decorated naval officers, including Prime Minister Ines Lindholm, Industries Minister Nitesh Singh, and Defense Minister Tadius Ahern. Intellectuals and scientists like Lon Xiang, the Minister of Colonial Affairs and Dr. Kahlee Sanders, the Minister of Science, also feature heavily in the new Alliance Parliament. Today, the Systems Alliance is moving towards becoming a meritocracy, somewhat similar to the Turian Hierarchy. However, this can also be attributed to the focus on strengthening and reconstruction efforts.

However, career politicians are not obsolete in the SA. The Alliance Minister for Council Affairs, Ajit Chaudhary, came up as a governor in the South Asian Federation. The human councilor, Dominic Osoba, is also a formidable career politician, having served as the prime minister of Illyria and the ambassador of humanity in the Citadel. Osoba was the former ambassador under Donnel Udina, and took over the duties of councilor after the war. Councilor Osoba and Executor Armando Owen-Bailey are the two highest ranking humans on Citadel.

The entire number of humans can only be approximated after the massive losses during the Reaper War, but it is generally assumed that Earth houses about 6.5 billion humans post-war, and another 3 billion in the colonies. The SA is in charge of eight class-A human colonies. Except these, humans have twenty-two class-B colonies, with populations lesser than a million, and more than fifty class-C colonies and outposts with less than 100,000 people. About 100,000 people live on Arcturus Station, and ~2.4 million humans live on the Citadel.

The class-A colonies, namely: Elysium, Eden Prime, Benning, Terra Nova, Watson, Therum, Horizon and Bekenstein – are the horizons of the new humanity. Each of these worlds have an identity of their own, with self-sufficient economies and governance. They have inhabitants who are certainly human, but do not call Earth home. These colonies constitute about 2 billion of the human population. The most populous and important are the ‘Big Four’ – Elysium, Terra Nova, Watson and Bekenstein.

Elysium (Petra Nebula/Vetus, pop. ~1 billion, cap. Illyria) is the most populous Alliance colony and is generally considered the second human homeworld. Featuring low gravity, tolerable atmospheric pressure, a suitable climate and a “decent day-night cycle”, it was the oldest human colony in the Skyllian Verge. Humans and aliens both flocked to this alpine paradise, and today almost a billion humans, five hundred million asari and turians, and about a hundred million salarians call Elysium home. Elysium is rich in minerals and agriculture – its materiel and volunteers make up a sizable portion of the Systems Alliance. Cities like Firdaus, Illyria and Asphodel display a mixture of asari, human and turian architecture housing large economic ventures, universities and research institutions. It is for this reason Elysium was always the target of batarian slavers and pirates, resulting in the 2176 Skyllian Blitz. During the Reaper War, Illyria was almost completely cratered by orbital bombardment. In the last sixteen years, the people of Elysium has rebuilt, displaying remarkable grit which they call the “Elysian spirit”. Elysium has developed a culture distinctly different from any area of Earth. The cohabitation of asari, humans and turians have created a lenient but resilient civilization. Elysium features heavily in the SA – they have the largest colony contribution in both houses of the parliament, in the Navy, and entertainment media. From the parliament, to the theatres, to the marines, Elysians bear their flag proudly.

Terra Nova (Exodus Cluster/Asgard, pop. ~517 million, cap. Scott) is humanity’s second extrasolar colony, and first beyond the local cluster. It once had the highest population amongst Alliance colonies, but now holds the second place. Roughly five hundred million humans call Terra Nova home. Though banded by a harsh equatorial desert, areas closer to the poles are temperate. The pace of development was modest until extensive deposits of platinum were discovered in the 2170s. Along with mining infrastructure, military installations were built. This world is the Alliance’s main political and military world, hosting the 8th and 9th Fleets as well as the majority of the Alliance Marine Corps. The capital region of Scott and the city of Kirk has the record of highest recruitment for the SAMC, even surpassing Rio de Janeiro and Fort Bragg. The people on Terra Nova are tough, for their world is so. Because of the heavily armed and trained citizenry, it was never occupied by any pirate forces, although its artificial satellite X57 was attacked by batarian intervention units repeatedly. With little for work except mining and military, it lacks charisma but not grit.

Watson (Sigurd’s Cradle/Skepsis, pop. ~324 million, cap. Disputed) is the human manufacturing and technological capital. Initially popular for two things - its spectacular tides brought on by a large moon, and the bureaucratic snafu over which Earth nations got to settle there first. After the 2165 Reykjavik Compromise, colonists from CPF, UNAS and EU settled on Watson, each establishing their own outposts. What followed was ultimately beneficial for humanity – due to intense competition from each other, the different outposts brought in numerous innovative procedures for the edge in production. Watson quickly became the premier hub for technology, making all types of high-end gadgets required by other colonies and the Alliance Navy. Engineering megacorporations sprang up, among them the Ayndroid Group, Heed Industries and Jormangund Technology.

Today, Watson hosts the Alliance Navy’s 10th Fleet, the 4th Marine Division and the leading technological firms in all of humanity. Its three capitals, namely New Manhattan, Kunlun and Nouvelle-Marseilles; host a diverse population and a very Earthlike culture. Its moon, Franklin, holds two Alliance spaceports – the Sergei Leonov Spaceport for commercial freights and shuttles, and the Kalpana Chawla Spaceport for the 10th Fleet and the 23rd Missile Wing.

Bekenstein (Serpent Nebula/Boltzmann, pop. ~220 million, cap. Milgrom) is the human economic capital, the equivalent to salarian Aegohr or asari Illium.

Eden Prime (Exodus Cluster/Utopia, pop. ~410 million, cap. Constant) and Benning (Arcturus Stream/Euler, pop. ~278 million, cap. Joughin) are humanity’s breadbaskets. These idyllic agrarian worlds produce food for the colonies and profit from the surplus harvests, all the while maintaining support infrastructure for the Arcturus Station. Eden Prime provides logistical support and freight services, while Benning hosts the Arcturus First Division of the Alliance Army and several dry docks including the Arcturus Support Flotilla.

Therum (Artemis Tau/Knossos, pop. ~290 million, cap. Nova Yekaterinburg) is the premier mining and industrial world of humanity. While Watson boasts shiny tech labs and cutting-edge innovation, Therum is the exact opposite, filled with dusty mines and large, functional factories. The large deposit of mineral resources in Therum help the Alliance immensely. Its massive refineries and mega-factories produce everything from clothing to vehicles. It may be dusty, but it is rich.

Horizon (Shadow Sea/Iera, pop. ~100 million, cap. Discovery) is humanity’s resort capital. Once called as a colony with minimal tourist value, Horizon has about-faced by developing homely resorts near verdant forests and beautiful lakes. The hospitality industry enjoys a fair amount of asari and turian business, however the lion’ share still comes from Earth and Elysium’s upper middle-class. The ones who cannot afford Nevos or Bekenstein come to Horizon to enjoy a few days of peace.

_Economy_

The human economy is very young; thus, it cannot hope to match the size of any of the Council Economies – especially not – the Salarian Union. Their economy has also taken a grievous hit because of the Reaper War – almost all the large human worlds and commerce hubs were hit. Not only the Reapers, the Systems Alliance had also faced attacks from the indoctrinated terrorist group, Cerberus. Because of the decentralization of the human governing, isolated worlds such as Noveria were able to defect from the Systems Alliance. However, the humans have shown remarkable grit and dedication in rebuilding; within the sixteen years that have passed, humans have rebuilt most of their destroyed infrastructure. Their economy is now at the same level as the Pre-War period, it can be safely assumed that within 2220 the human economy shall grow by at least 40 to 50 percent of its current state. The human economy is still a dwarf compared to the Volus or the Asari, however it has surpassed the Elcor and Hanar economies.

The human economy is based on giant corporations like Eldfell-Ashland Energy and Sirta Foundation. Humans have the sole rights and patents to various well-received and useful items, such as the Medi-Gel, which is the source of Sirta’s fortunes; and the Synthetic Insights Graybox, a virtual intelligence companion created for personal assistance.

Beneath the economic giants like Eldfell-Ashland, Sirta, ExoGeni, Nashan-Stellar and Binary Helix, hundreds of human companies battle to make a mark in the galactic market. The galactic marketplace is pretty much already declared for – the Salarians have a monopoly on technology, the Turians in defense, and the Asari in pretty much everything else. The finance sector is almost exclusively Volus, with a few Asari and Elcor firms here and there. In this jungle of credits and market-shares, the humans bring something that was previously lacking in the galaxy – ingenuity and innovation. Companies like Heyuan Genomics and Genex Chemicals scout new colony worlds and study their resources. Genex, a human company, has achieved astonishing advancements in levo-amino agriculture. MarsGene, a genetics company, provides various types of gene therapy not only to humans, but to asari, salarians and batarians as well. Although the human treaty known as Sudham-Wolcott Genetic Heritage Act (c. 2161) is a significant impediment in the way of genetic engineering, the human companies have indeed circumvented it and have made great strides in the field.

Human class-B colonies and class-C outposts are spread across the expanse of the Anansi-Ishtar Shipping Lanes in the Hades Gamma region. Planets like Trebin, Chohe, Klensal and Nonuel are mining and manufacturing colonies; terraformed by human colonizers and consisting of huge corporation presence protected by the navy and marines. These worlds provide many types of supplies in the way of both raw materials and finished goods, and allow the Alliance to contribute a large percentage of the galactic economy.

On the edges of Attican Traverse, near quarian-geth space, a similar ring of colonies and outposts can be seen in the Hades Nexus and Caleston Rift regions. These planets are major mining locations, as well as the commerce hubs for both the Alliance and the Rannoch Conclave. Asteria, Trident, Makhaira, Komarov and Gei Hinnom all host vibrant agrarian colonies and commerce hubs, protected by geth, quarian and human soldiers while the Alliance, Citadel and Rannoch fleets provide overwatch and deterrents against Terminus pirates. Asteria and Trident are settled by humans, asari, quarians and turians alike. These planets show a promising future for galactic coexistence, where members of all races work together towards prosperity. 

In the Skyllian Verge, human exploration and colonization remains in full throttle, thanks to their efficient exploration corporations. ExoGeni, certainly the leader in the field, is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of several class-B and class-C colonies and outposts through human space. They continuously explore and research plausible settlement spots, often jointly with Systems Alliance Geological Surveys. Other corporations such as Delta Pavonis, who established the first human extrasolar colony of Demeter, and Homeworlds Initiative, do the same work in a smaller scale. Previously they used to fight tooth and nail against batarians for colonization rights - now left unchecked, they are rapidly expanding all over the Verge.

The planet Bekenstein produces various novelty items, which have a large market amongst the Asari and Turian worlds, and Bekensteinian luxury items are sought after in the Citadel. Humans are certainly not new to the notion of luxury – in fact they are the only Council species except the asari to have a penchant for it. Thus, the “Human Illium” has become the advertising ground for Earth’s largest fashion and luxury brands. Centuries-old fashion houses like Versace, Dior, Gucci and Levi’s make clothing for humans and aliens alike. Formal clothing made by Saville Row and shoes made by Armani have taken asari and turian markets by storm. Volkswagen-Porsche, Ferrari-Nezo Transportation and Petronus-McLaren produce legacy street-cars as well as high-performance speeders, called “superflyers”. Luxury items from Rolex smart-bands to Sony-Isenberg entertainment consoles are all available at Bekenstein. The planet has become a melting pot of galactic culture, and works as a great advertisement for the Systems Alliance.

Humans also make above-par weaponry. Weapon manufacturers like Kassa Fabrications and Rosenkov Materials are centuries-old companies, having been at the spearhead of weapons technology since the advent of smokeless gunpowder. These manufacturers, under different names and ownership, have provided weapons in every human conflict in the last three hundred years. Their guns and licensed/unlicensed variants are go-to brands to many PMCs and militaries. For example, the M-96 Mattock and the AX-5 Hoplite rifles produced by Kassa are the standard battle rifles for many militaries, including our very own armed forces. Rosenkov produces highly acclaimed weapons as the M-97 Volkov Viper sniper rifle and the L-14 Bellatrix carbine (the latter jointly with Armax Arsenal). Due to extremely high demands for these weapons, Rosenkov and Kassa are now (jointly) the largest weapon manufacturers in the galaxy, rivaled only by the Vol giant Elcoss Combine. Their combined sales have surpassed even that of Armax Arsenal, at the surprise of many security experts. Similarly, human-made Onyx, Pathfinder and Colossus armors are highly sought after by asari and drell forces.

The Hoplite is the current standard assault rifle for the Asari Republican Guards and will probably be accepted into the Salarian Armed Forces as well. The Alliance Army, second-line Marines and UNSC reserves are also armed with this weapon. The Colossus armor is the current standard issue for the Asari Republican Guards, and their commando regiments prefer the more developed HyperGuardian lines of armor. 

In terms of heavy weapons, humans export advanced fire control systems, several ground vehicles, including the M-35 Mako and the ND1 Nomad; missile technologies and most importantly - the blueprints of Cyclonic Barrier emitters. Another innovation of human weapons tech that sells well is fighter technology. Humans have brought in several specialization roles in the galactic warfare that previously relied on do-it-all multirole spaceplanes, and several militaries in the galaxy are adopting these designs. 

Humans certainly are behind the curve in the field of electronic and digital technology. Even the largest human corporations, such as Aldrin Labs or the Ariake-Honda Technologies cannot even match a fraction of the size of the salarian Halegeuse Corporation and Saronis Applications, the asari Armali and Serrice Councils, or the turian-volus Delumcore Systems. Perhaps, the only high-end competitor in this field is Synthetic Insights. Despite the usual frowning towards artificial intelligence in Council Space (the tendency has decreased after peace with the geth, however) the human corporation leads the galaxy in developing artificial intelligence and neural interfaces. Their proprietary ‘graybox’ technology is the most advanced – if not so popular – neural interface in the galaxy. They also produce other implants that help a being integrate with technology better – the ‘bareskin’ niche generally depends on SI for their tools of trade.

It is a sigh of relief for us that humanity is not a leading producer for high-end technologies, or advanced weapons. The Salarian Union can rest easy on this sector, because we outmatch all of our rivals by a large margin, including humanity.

However, STG should do everything in its power to stop the humans and the quarians from partnering up. The Quarian economy, although at its infancy, possesses exceptional potential in electronics, engeneering and computer technology. If these two very ingenuous species partner up, the Salarian economy will lose its edge in technology within a couple decades

_Human Diplomatic Relations_

Whatever their standings were before the Reaper War, humanity have risen as the protectors and saviors of the galaxy afterwards. Due to the efforts of Commander Shepard and Admiral Hackett, and the numerous heroics of the Alliance fleets and forces, many species are in a debt of gratitude towards humanity.

Asari owe the sustenance of their civilization to humanity. During the evacuation of Thessia, the human fleets spearheaded the efforts, carrying almost the entire battle and providing valuable time for the Quarian and Geth fleets to extract more than a billion asari from their homeworld. The postwar relationships between Asari and humanity have developed to a great extent, with increased commerce and sharing of cultures. This will only continue to improve, as the Asari are very grateful to humans for saving their civilization.

Commander Shepard will go down in Quarian history as the sole savior of their race. During the ending moments of the battle of Rannoch, the human soldier destroyed a Reaper on foot, and standing on the ruins of the Reaper, he convinced both the Quarian and Geth fleets to stand down. The combined civilization of the quarians and the geth have flourished in the following years, and the Quarians have an embassy on the Citadel after 300 years. The first generation of suitless Quarian children are coming into their adolescence as of now. Most of the quarians have adapted enough – with geth help – to live without enviro-suits. Even this immense gratitude is dwarfed by the geth – who consider Shepard to be their life giver. The growing Quarian-Geth economy has gotten most of its trade from Systems Alliance, as well as support in the repopulation of Rannoch. The combined military of Rannoch, consisting the second largest navy and one of the largest land forces, are staunch allies of the humans and will unquestioningly aid them in any conflicts.

Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy are the joint wardens of Citadel Space. Due to fighting together for most of the war, and Primarch Adrien Victus being very appreciative of humans, the Hierarchy and the Alliance have completely gotten past their previous history (see: Relay 314 incident), and are staunch allies with large trade, and combined military practices. The Turian 43rd Legion and the Human 11th Marine Division are currently deployed together. It is safe to assume the rest of the two militaries will fight together if the need arises.

The rising Krogan Federation is similarly friendly to the Alliance, due to, once again, Shepard’s intervention during the Genophage cure. Chieftain Urdnot Wrex and Shaman Prime Urdnot Bakara both go beyond the standard diplomatic relations and consider various Alliance soldiers to be personal friends. The Krogan military is being trained by the SA soldiers, and they rely on human naval support due to their lack of a spacefaring navy.

Humans enjoy standard diplomatic relationships with Elcor, Hanar, Volus and Drell. The newest species in the Citadel, the Raloi, are very fond of humans and seem to idolize them to an extent. The Raloi rejoined the Citadel after the Reaper War, and they have been trying to compensate for their non-participation in the war.

Humans have an unlikely ally in the Rachni, who are grateful to humanity. The Alliance were the first race to attempt to befriend the Rachni during the Reaper War, and after the war humans have aided the sentient insect race to habituate a few former Batarian worlds as well as repopulate Suen, their home world. The Rachni are an unpredictable race, but they will, too, probably stand with humanity in times of conflict. In the case of another Krogan rebellion, the Rachni will be a tremendous ally.

The Batarian species have practically gone extinct, and almost all of the few million remaining Batarians have retreated to Khar’shan to attempt rebuilding. They have been aided by the Council, but it seems likely that the race will die out in a thousand years. The worlds formerly colonized by them have mostly been taken over by the Alliance. Four of the former Batarian worlds, including Camala, have been given to the Krogan to colonize, in return of them agreeing to a specially developed birth-control bio-transplant. The Krogan promise to keep to themselves and not overpopulate, but the galaxy remains alert.

Lastly, the humans have a cold and formal relationship with the Salarian Union. Point to be noted is that, most of the species in the galaxy are currently weary of Salarians, due to the Union joining the war efforts very late, and committing only a single fleet to the battle of Earth. The only ally the Union has nowadays, is seemingly the Hanar and the Drell – both minor races in Citadel politics. The Union has an important ally in the Drell, due to the terraforming and habitation of Rakhana with Salarian technology. However, political leader Kolyat Krios is friendly towards humans. There is a potential vassal race in the Yahg. With proper upbringing and controlling schemes, the Yahg could be a great military workforce for the Union.

All in all, the Salarian Union are at a disadvantage to the Systems Alliance in galactic politics. To ensure survival, we must gather our superior intelligence and technology against humanity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE: So, I discovered Paragon Reinterpretations, and the Paragon Universe by BrentAtticus ( https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11514791/1/Paragon-Universe ). It has dawned on me that the concept I am trying has been done before, and rather well. Thus, I have decided to stop updating the entire series. Thanks to anyone who read it and provided criticism. Kudos and adios.


	2. Military

**Military of the Systems Alliance**

_The Military Expansion of the Systems Alliance: Treaty of Farixen_

As the defenders of human space, and by extension, Council Space, Systems Alliance Navy is one of the more powerful military forces in the galaxy. After the revision of the Treaty of Farixen in 2191, the human military building allowance has been increased and brought up to Salarian standards. As the new century starts, the SA have rebuilt their navy from the devastation of the Reaper War almost completely. Systems Alliance Navy now has 11 Dreadnoughts, compared to 16 of the Salarian Union, 21 of the Asari Republics, and 40 of the Turian Hierarchy. By 2250, this number will be 30 human, 21 Salarian, 32 Asari, and 50 Turian. The current statute of Farixen states the ratio at 5 for Turians, 3 for Asari, Humans and Salarians, 1 each for the Quarian and the Geth – equaling to 2 for the combined force, and 1 for the Krogan. The Volus, Hanar, Elcor all have one dreadnought each, and they do not seem interested in building more. The Raloi will be allowed to build their first dreadnought in 2210.

This revision of the Treaty of Farixen is a grave threat to Salarian military capability. It is well known that the Union’s initial hesitancy to join the War and Dalatrass Linron’s attempt to sabotage the cure to the Genophage has created a unanimous distrust towards Salarians. Within the next hundred years, the Salarian Union shall become a dwarf in front of the Human, Quarian-Geth, and Asari navies.

_Systems Alliance Military Structure: Navy_

The Systems Alliance Military is made up of the 3% of humans that join armed forces. The enumerated total of servicemen in the SA military number around 320 million active and reserve personnel. Due to the inefficacy and expense of maintaining such a force, almost the entire number of the personnel serve in reservist capacity, composed of citizen-soldiers who combine a military role or career with a civilian career. They are not normally kept under arms and their main role is to be available to fight when the military requires additional manpower. The Systems Alliance Charters also has a conscription clause, allowing up to 10% of the citizenry to be drafted into military service. The only time this was put into effect was during the Reaper War, when almost a billion human soldiers participated in the galactic conflict.

The military of the Systems Alliance is generally similar to rest of the Citadel races, with a dedicated navy and other specialized corps. The Navy is the parent force of all. Subordinate units like Marines, Naval Aviation, Orbital Defense Forces are corps-sized units within the Navy's purview. The Army, Special Operations Forces and the AIS are out of the Navy's purview. 

The SA Navy is divided into eleven Fleets, each fleet having a dreadnought flagship. The Everest-class dreadnoughts of the human navy are similar to the Turian dreadnoughts, and technologically inferior to Asari or Salarian ones. However, they do possess exceptional firepower, which we and the Asari have sacrificed for more cutting-edge technology. Other races generally have two dreadnoughts at the head of a fleet, but the Alliance does not have enough battleships to follow this doctrine. Instead, their fleets contain a carrier, which is equal in size to a dreadnought, but without the firepower.

The dreadnoughts are named after mountains on Earth.

The backbone of the SA navy are the cruisers, which are also similar to their Turian counterparts. Cruisers are multirole vessels, able to engage in naval combat, deploy fighters, and drop ground forces on a planet surface. They are named after cities on Earth, the main class is called the Hong Kong-class. The Alliance Navy has fewer cruisers compared to the Asari and Salarians, and the number is miniscule compared to the Hierarchy. The lower number of cruisers are made up by a higher number of frigates than other navies.

The ingenuity of the Humans has been seen prevalently in their Frigate doctrine. Although all Citadel navies possess frigates, the SA have revolutionized the doctrine for frigate warfare. Their Alexander-class destroyers are a novel conception in space combat. Deriving from the human doctrine of precise and efficient use of force, the Alexander-class has evolved from heavy frigates. They are the main vessels used in lower-intensity conflicts, possessing a smaller capacity than a cruiser but also being more efficient. The Alliance also uses light frigates in great numbers. The Normandy SR2-class is probably the most advanced frigate in the known galaxy, and the SR2 flotillas are capable of dealing with a wide range of opponents, from pirate ships to cruisers. STG hypothesizes that, two or three flotillas of Normandy-class frigates equipped with Thanix magnetohydrodynamic guns would even be capable of tackling a dreadnought. The SSV Normandy SR2 has aptly demonstrated the caliber of this vessel during the Collector attacks of 2185, when the ship singlehandedly destroyed a Collector cruiser, which outweighed the vessel by a large margin. Thus, superiority in dreadnoughts might be nullified against a battle with the SA navy if they are allowed to deploy their frigates properly. This is a concern shared by both the Hierarchy Defense Intelligence and the Citadel Special Tactics and Recon.

 _ Note: human destroyers are named after military leaders of Earth, and frigates are named after great battles fought in human history. Both are, it seems, in abundance _ _._

Another example of human ingenuity is the concept of carriers. Using fighters as their prime armament, the carrier is an excellent support spacecraft, and it has been seen in the Reaper War to turn the tides of various battles. Along with fighters, carriers can also carry ground force elements. The SSV Isaac Newton had ferried Task Force Hercules, the famous multi-species special forces unit during the Reaper War. As the spearhead of Taskforce Hammer, the Hercules TF is credited to be the main influencing element to the victory in battle of Earth. Carriers are named after famous intellectuals in human history.

Fleets of the Alliance Navy are listed below. The list contains the names of the fleet, the flagship and the commanding officer.

**Fleet**

| 

**Flagship**

| 

**Commanding Officer**

| 

**Operations Region**

| 

**Ship Count**  
  
---|---|---|---|---  
  
First Fleet

| 

SSV Aconcagua

| 

Admiral Boris Mikhailovich

| 

Arcturus Stream

| 

111  
  
Second Fleet

| 

SSV Everest 2

| 

Admiral Robert Christianson

| 

Arcturus Stream

| 

89  
  
Third Fleet

| 

SSV Logan

| 

Admiral Fan Xiang

| 

Arcturus Stream

| 

78  
  
Fourth Fleet

| 

SSV Fuji 2

| 

Admiral Preston Kyle

| 

Local Cluster

| 

102  
  
Fifth Fleet

| 

SSV Orizaba

| 

Admiral Lance Hendricks

| 

Local Cluster

| 

97  
  
Sixth Fleet

| 

SSV Shasta

| 

Admiral Jonas McRaven

| 

Petra Nebula

| 

103  
  
Seventh Fleet

| 

SSV Elbrus

| 

Admiral Yevgeny Chekov

| 

Hades Gamma

| 

88  
  
Eighth Fleet

| 

SSV Tai Shan

| 

Admiral Sandipan Ramamurthy

| 

Exodus Cluster

| 

73  
  
Ninth Fleet

| 

SSV Godwin Austen

| 

Admiral Yusuf Al-Kaysani

| 

Exodus Cluster

| 

84  
  
Tenth Fleet

| 

SSV Kilimanjaro 2

| 

Admiral Niccolò Manganiello

| 

Sigurd’s Cradle

| 

67  
  
Eleventh Fleet

| 

SSV Annapurna

| 

Admiral Lyanna Lindholm

| 

Serpent Nebula

| 

92  
  
Six of the fleets have a carrier group attached to them. The carriers of the Systems Alliance are listed below. The list contains the names, assigned fleet, and armament type.

**Carrier**

| 

**Assigned Fleet**

| 

**Commanding Officer**

| 

**Armament**  
  
---|---|---|---  
  
SSV Isaac Newton

| 

First

| 

Vice Admiral Taylor Tanaka

| 

Fighter/Troops  
  
SSV Benjamin Franklin

| 

Second

| 

Vice Admiral Sandra Armstrong

| 

Missile Corvette  
  
SSV Stephen Hawking

| 

Third

| 

Vice Admiral Adrian Dragunov

| 

GARDIAN Corvette  
  
SSV Albert Einstein

| 

Sixth

| 

Vice Admiral Miguel Sanchez

| 

Fighter  
  
SSV Nicola Tesla

| 

Seventh

| 

Rear Admiral Peyton Lang

| 

Missile Corvette  
  
SSV Satyendra Bose

| 

Ninth

| 

Rear Admiral Jake McChrystal

| 

Fighter  
  
The Systems Alliance Navy has 11 dreadnoughts, 6 carriers, 167 cruisers, and approximately 800 destroyers and frigates in its arsenal. Ships held in reserve and mothball hangars bring the number near three thousand. However, the mainstay of the fleet are the more numerous non-combat support ships and smaller crafts, the latter overseen by the Systems Alliance Naval Aviation Corps.

The NAC, subordinate to the Navy much like the Marines, operate these crafts, including fighters, corvettes, patrol boats, missile boats, bombers etc. The Naval Aviation Corps consists of nineteen fighter groups and 70 boat squadrons.

The Alliance Engineering Corps is another primary corps-sized unit comprised of technical specialists and combat engineers of the Alliance. Its elements are equally comfortable in naval dockyards as well as frontier battlefields, operating all kinds of support equipment. The Alliance Engineering Corps works very closely with the ministry of science. It creates next-generation technologies and also operates them.

The Alliance Strategic Support Corps are SA's primary cyberwarfare, electronic warfare, information warfare and communications arm. Their focus is on running seamless communication for one's own side and disruption of the enemy's. They closely work with Intelligence, and operate everything related to communications and the extranet from comm buoys to QECs.

Alliance Geological Survey Corps and Alliance Naval Exploration Flotilla Corps are similarly subordinate to the navy, which work on finding colonization prospects during peacetime.

_Systems Alliance Military Structure: Marine Corps_

The Systems Alliance Marine Corps is the ground forces of Systems Alliance, and the main expeditionary/colonizing force of humanity. Far smaller in size when compared to the Turian Military or the former Batarian Military, the SAMC is an all-volunteer force. The standing force numbers nearly 10 million marines and support personnel. Instead of utilizing large-scale maneuver warfare, the SAMC is focused on light reactionary elements, a mixed doctrine based off of various historical Marine Corps, Air Assault forces and Paratrooper units. Their main strategy in offensive warfare is to bypass enemy strong points, and hit supply lines or flanks, allowing themselves to encircle and eliminate larger and superior forces. The SAMC elements are small but self-dependent, their modus operandi depending on shuttle and dropship-based air assault spaceborne operations and 'planet-hopping' beachhead campaigns.

Humans have practiced combined arms since the early 21st Century, similar to the Turian Hierarchy. In modern warfare, the SAMC brings the combined might of rifles, armor, air support, and orbital support into a battlefield. The SAMC and the Turian Hierarchy train together in combined arms, and share tactics often.

The SAMC is divided into several commands and Combat Arms. The regional commands are based in key human worlds and cover a specific area of human space. The arms of the SAMC are focused on different aspects of warfare, and use specific equipment to their suitability. The Combat Arms are: Infantry, Artillery, Armor, Combat Aviation, Combat Engineering (COMEN) and Orbital Defense (OD).

Since the SAMC is a specialized ground combat force, it does not have combat support elements, instead relying on the Navy to provide logistical and service support. Without the Navy, the marines are unable to conduct operations. Also, the Alliance special operations are organized in a separate branch of the Forces, including the AIS and EDF.

The commands, also called Battle Groups, are as follows:

Earth Command (EARTHCOM) – 1st Marine Group. Based on Quantico, UNAS; Shackleton, Luna; Ganymede, Jupiter.

Arcturus Command (ARCCOM) – 2nd Frontier Marine Group. Based on Arcturus Station; Parthenos, Benning.

Elysium Command (ELCOM) – 3rd Marine and 10th Frontier Marine Groups. Based on Illyria, Elysium; Firdaus, Elysium.

Sigurd’s Cradle Command (SICOM) – 4th Marine Group. Based on New Manhattan, Watson; Kalpana Chawla Spaceport, Franklin; Vulpes, Sanctum.

Exodus Command (EXCOM) – 5th Marine Group, based on Marine Base Amaravati, Terra Nova. 6th Marine Group, based on Kirk, Terra Nova. 7th Frontier Marine Group, based on Constant, Eden Prime. 9th Marine Group, based on Folkvangr, Tyr.

Hades Gamma Command (HADCOM) – 8th Marine Group. Based on Nova Yekaterinburg, Therum. 

Citadel Command (CITCOM) – 11th Marine Group. Based on Milgrom, Bekenstein; serving under the Citadel Fleet.

It is to be noted that, the SAMC Battlegroups are just organizational names given for the reason of structural conformity. Battlegroups are not a specific kind of combat detachment, but instead consists of several other units, such as Brigades, Regiments or Divisions. For example, the First Marine Group under EARTHCOM, contains almost 35% of all troops in the SAMC. It is by far the largest Battle Group, and larger than the Sigurd’s Cradle, Shadow Sea, and Citadel Commands combined.

The largest marine formation is the Battle Group. A battle group is formed consisting somewhere between four to eighteen Marine Divisions, depending on location, importance, and strength. Battlegroups are not maneuver units; they are command structures to categorize subordinate ones. Battlegroups are commanded by Generals or Lieutenant Generals.

The second largest formation is the Division. Divisions are theatre units, deployed on a planetwide or cluster-wide campaign only. Divisions are not maneuvered as a whole, they provide subordinate units for that purpose. The role of the Division HQ is to monitor and control a large campaign. A division consists of three Regiments or nine Brigades, almost 40,000 marines. A division is commanded by a Major General.

The parent specialization formation is the Regiment. Regiments are focused on a single front of military purposes, be it infantry, armor, artillery or such. Regiments are the source of SAMC battalions. Regiments are either training formations or on-paper formations, with its battalions spread into BCTs. A Regiment consists of fifteen battalions and is commanded by a Brigadier General, consisting of 13,200 marines.

The main battle element of the SAMC is the Brigade Combat Team (BCT). A BCT is a combined arms unit, commanded by a Brigadier. Each BCT contains 4400 marines, and consists of five battalions, each commanded by a Commander and/or a Major. The BCT is a flexible unit, consisting of various proportions of combat arms. Each battalion specializes in a combat arm, such as infantry or armor. The battalion is further divided into five companies, each commanded by a Major and/or a Captain. Each company is divided into four platoons, commanded by a Lieutenant.

An infantry battalion, otherwise called a rifle battalion will consist of three rifle companies, one weapons company equipped with mortars, missile launchers, and GPMGs/sentry turrets; and one light mechanized (scout) company equipped with M-44 Hammerhead and ND1 Nomad Rovers.

An artillery battalion will be equipped with one rifle company, one orbital defense company equipped with close-in remote weapon systems, Mk 38 guided 76mm guns, Scalpel tactical missiles etc. The rest will be three artillery companies, equipped with several weapons ranging from Thanix and Javelin missile systems, rocket artillery systems loaded with Meteor AKRs and Inferno PKRs, tactical missiles, and the mainstay artillery piece of the Alliance Marines, the M-197 mass accelerator cannon. The artillery can operate via both self-propelled or towed modes; its role as the king of the battlefields remain the same with area saturation missions or guided precision strikes.

In an OD battalion, the ratio will be reversed from arty battalions, with three OD companies, one arty company and one rifle company. OD battalions also make extensive use of defense towers, high-mobility GARDIAN truck batteries and "floating fortress" spaceborne artillery; basically dreadnought guns fitted onto space stations and pointed at the nearest relay.

Combat Engineering (COMEN) battalions will consist of one rifle company and one light mechanized (scout) company, and three engineer battalions equipped with drones and support tech.

Combat Aviation battalions consist of two shuttle companies, equipped with UT-47A Kodiak shuttles and UT-52B Puma dropships; and three close air support companies, equipped with A-61 Dragonfly gunships and UT-47C Polar air support shuttles. All of these spacecrafts can fly in atmosphere and space equally, making them useful for light, medium and heavy air support. If more firepower is required, destroyers provide orbital fire from their main guns.

Light mechanized battalions are equipped with M-44 Hammerhead combat hovercrafts, ND1 Nomad combat rovers and M-398 Light Strike Vehicles. These vehicles are nimble, but lightly armored and armed. The M-44 sports a 76mm mass accelerator cannon, far lighter than the 120mm of the Turian C77 Tyrus. The Nomad is even more lightly armored, carrying only one 30mm autocannon. These vehicles focus on outflanking the enemy and hitting them from their blind sides.

The heavy armor battalions are equipped with the M-35 Mako series of fighting vehicles and the M-53 Orca main battle tanks. The basic M-35A Mako sports a 155mm gun and is well-armored. The handling issues of earlier versions are worked out, resulting in a agile and powerful vehicle. There are several variants of the Mako, carrying thanix cannons, a missile rack or GARDIAN batteries, serving as multi-purpose offensive vehicles. Its roles include tank destroyer, anti-aircraft, towed artillery and strategic recon. The Orca, nicknamed “killer whale”, is a far larger vehicle and the first human MBT in one and a half century. The M-53 sacrifices agility and speed for excellent protection and firepower. It is equipped with two main guns – a Thanix magnetohydrodynamic cannon and a 155mm gun, along with a 30mm autocannon and a J-008 coaxial machinegun. It also has missile racks on the side for Arrow, Scalpel and disruptor missiles. Sitting on a large 10x10 wheel drive and sporting ablative armor, it is a fearsome vehicle. The M-53 outweighs and outguns anything that the Salarian Union has, and is only matched by Krogan and Turian battle tanks.

Each BCT, depending on their mission, are comprised of these battalions. This modularity is helpful for different types of conflicts. During the Reaper War, brigades from the 103rd Infantry and the 763rd Mechanized Divisions fought in diverse conditions, ranging from heavy battles like Palaven or Earth and low-intensity conflicts like Ontarom and Noveria. The SA marines excelled in both situations.

Platoons are the smallest unit of maneuver warfare. In lower-intensity conflicts, platoons are the primary units deployed. A platoon consists of three squads, a navy medic and a combat controller. Every platoon has access to air and orbital support, and can contact higher-ups regularly. Anti-armor and anti-aircraft missiles and other heavy weapons are also generally deployed at platoon level. Non-infantry platoons are divided into sections instead of squads, where two sections make up a platoon.

Infantry squads can be two types - line infantry or advanced infantry. The line infantry marines are riflemen, grenadiers equipped with ML-77 missile launchers and M-54 Shrike rotary grenade launchers, and marksmen with a Mattock/Valkyrie. Advanced infantry marines comprise of specialist riflemen, biotic adepts and sentinels, Anti-armor COMENs (using mortars, Cains and Archer rocket launchers), Infowar COMENs (using drones and omnitool attacks), shock infantry etc. Marine squads comprise of 12 members, allowing it to deploy either 3-man fireteams or 4-man fireteams. Anti-armor, mortar, adept and engineer fireteams consist of three marines - one rifleman and two specialists. Rifle, shock, grenadier and sentinel fireteams consist of four marines - two specialist riflemen and two other combatants. 

The Systems Alliance Marine Corps puts a deep importance on training its junior officers and non-commissioned officers. Based on armies of the previous eras, the NCOs are mostly lifers, each having decades of experience in the battlefield. After the Reaper War, this percentage has only increased. Gunnery Sergeants lead two-squad detachments in the field, while the Master Sergeants act as the Lt.’s 2IC, helping and guiding him to command his unit. Singular squads are commanded by either Staff Sgt.’s or Corporals, often divided into three or four-man fireteams for maneuver purposes.

_Naval Ranks_

The naval ranks are based on 21st century-Earth oceanic navies. The ranks of the Navy and the Marine Corps are the same, for the marines are considered a branch of the navy; although a serviceman’s naval ratings will take precedence before marine ones. Due to the application of the Systems Alliance Vocational Codes, there are less complications in ranks compared to previous eras. Various servicemen holding the same rank can have different seniority, pay scale and commands depending on their vocation and ability level. Cross-training in vocations is appreciated, and is sometimes compulsory. Even when elective, cross-training or specializing is seen as a good way to climb the promotional ladder. Some units shall only accept cross-trained personnel. 

**Enlisted (A-X)**

Serviceman 2nd Class/Private (A-1)

Serviceman 1st Class/Private 1st Class (A-2)

Leading Serviceman/Corporal (A-3)

**Non-Commissioned Officer (E-X)**

Service Chief/Staff Sergeant (E-1)

Gunnery Chief/Gunnery Sergeant (E-2)

Operations Chief/Master Sergeant (E-3)

**Commissioned Officer (O-X)**

Ensign/2nd Lieutenant (O-1)

Sub Lieutenant/1st Lieutenant (O-2)

Staff Lieutenant/Captain (O-3)

Lieutenant Commander/Major (O-4)

Staff Commander/Commander (O-5)

Fleet Captain/Brigadier (O-6)

Rear Admiral/Major General (O-7)

Vice Admiral/Lieutenant General (O-8)

Admiral/General (O-9)

Chief of Staff of Navy/Chief of Staff of Marines (O-10)

_Training and Equipment_

The Systems Alliance Navy has a dedicated chain of academies and training centers to train its personnel, from servicemen to admirals. A serviceman, right out of the recruitment center, will sit on an aptitude examination. Based on the scores, he/she will be given a first assignment on docks, space stations or vessels. This assignment works as boot camp, since they are only put to work after six weeks of basic training. By the time he/she gets promoted to Leading Serviceman, the Navy will have selected a specialty for him, ranging from logistics to helmsman. Since that point, a career serviceperson's training is focused and specialized on his vocation.

Servicemen can go into a plethora of roles under the Alliance Military Vocational Code (MVC). The MVC classifies the career path of all serving personnel. The MVC consists of one letter and one number. A serviceman's MVC indicates proficiency, not rank. The letter notes career path; the number indicates level of experience, as indicated by service record, technical scores, and commendations. Some of the important vocational codes include naval support (L code), naval engineering (M code), naval operations and weapons (O code), information and communications management (Q code), medical (H code), administration and finance (F code) etc.

Naval aviators who focus on solo flying, such as flying fighters, corvettes and frigates go for the rated naval flying training (R code). Marines with high aptitude for flying can also go for R code, their version standing for combat aviation (shuttle, gunship and dropship flying).

Servicemen and Marines who go for the Strategic Support Corps are trained under research and development (Y code) and cyberwarfare (Z code). Some of these servicemen are also trained in P-code xeno-warfare abilities. 

Those who serve under the AIS go through Intelligence training (Z code), investigation training (I code) and xeno-warfare training (P code, advanced). 

Officer Candidate Schools are based on historical naval academies, including Annapolis, Kuznetsov and Dartmouth. Naval officers are brought up under an environment of tradition mixed with technology. All naval cadets compulsorily complete a higher education degree at these academies, conducted in parallel to the naval training. A freshly graduated Ensign, at the mark of six months, can either join the Fleet and come back later for the completion of his degree, or complete it piecemeal during his assignments. Cadets who are already college graduates are allowed to join the fleet at the three-month mark. The training itself is vast. It teaches naval operating procedures, mechanisms of vessels, basics of naval warfare, galactic wartime and maritime law, naval history and strategy and basic engineering, astrophysics and xenobiology. Naval officers who focus on specializing are allowed to do so after his/her maiden voyage.

All Systems Alliance marines go through basic planetary and space combat training. The vocation code for infantry training is B1 through B7. The SAMC follows the old USMC adage, “Every Marine is a Rifleman.” Thus, every recruit, from ‘clerk to sniper’ – go through the infantry training. Planet-side training is conducted on Quantico, UNAS on Earth and Olympus base on Terra Nova. Space and hostile environment training, for grades B5 and above, is conducted on Saturn’s moon, Titan. The B-code curriculum is slightly modified to create the A-code, for naval servicemen, naval aviators, orbital defense bombardiers and missilemen, and army troopers. A-code training is A1 through A5. Marine officers, after being promoted to 1st Lieutenant, are obliged to go through N1 level Special Operations training. If an officer declines said training, he cannot command any infantry formation.

After completing compulsory B4, a marine is eligible for specialization. Riflemen can specialize in S, C, G advanced combat codes - S is surveillance and sniper vocation; C is biotics and G is combat engineering. Servicepersons with up to level-4 training are considered non-SOF advanced infantry and they get Sentinel, Vanguard, Info-war/Tech-war Specialist or Infiltrator ratings. A marine who has completed B7 is eligible for special forces training, while S5, C5 and G5s are eligible for the same. A marine or serviceman who has completed S7, C7 or G7 can get an automatic rating as an N5-grade SOF operator.

Non-infantry marines are dispatched to artillery (D code), orbital defense (T code) or armor school (J code). Marines interested in non-combat roles can go for damage control/EOD (E code), medic training under the navy (H code), military police (U code), instructor roles (V code) or transfer into the marine support regiments (K code). 

Alliance marines use sturdy and good quality weapons. They are not as cutting-edge as the Salarian Defense Forces weapons, but are of better quality than Krogan, Batarian or Quarian weapons. Main suppliers are Hahne-Kedar, Devlon Industries, Rosenkov Materials and Kassa Fabrications. Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG) produces high-end weapons for SOF, and some of these weapons have become standard issue. A simplified equipment list is as follows:

**Small Arms [Column 1]**

| 

**Small Arms [Column 2]**

| 

**Armor**

| 

**Heavy Weapons**

| 

**Vehicles**

| 

**Aviation Elements**

| 

**Equipment**  
  
---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
  
Combat Rifles

| 

AX-5 Mk III Avenger Ghost Assault Rifle [Std]

N/M-49 Valkyrie Battle Rifle [Std]

N/M-49A1 Mjolnir Special Operations Rifle [SOF]

S-96b Mattock Battle Rifle [Std]

M-37 Falcon Shotgun/Rifle [SPC]

| 

Shotguns

| 

M-23 Katana [Std]

N/M-56 Crusader [SOF]

L-27 Martyr [SPC]

Lieberschaft 2187 Vanquisher [SOF]

| 

Kassa Fabrications Onyx Medium Armor [Std]

Kassa Fabrications Colossus Heavy Armor [Std]

Devlon Industries Hazard Armor [SPC]

Ariake Technologies Spirit Armor [SPC]

| 

M-J005 Tsunami Minigun [SOF]

ML-77 Missile Launcher [Std]

ML-94 Archer Multipurpose Missile Launcher[Std]

M-54 Shrike Rotary Grenade Launcher [Std]

M-560 Hydra Multiple Missile Launcher [Std]

M-920 Cain Multipurpose Explosive Weapon [Std]

M-451 Flamethrower [SPC]

| 

M-53 Orca Main Battle Tank

M-35A Mako Infantry Fighting Vehicle

M-35B Anti-Tank Missile Vehicle

M-35C Guided Mortar/Artillery Carrier

M-44 Hammerhead Light Assault Vehicle

ND1 Nomad Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle

| 

UT-47A Kodiak Shuttle

UT-47C Polar Close Air Support Platform

UT-52B Dropship

| 

Aldrin Labs BlueWire Omni-Tool [Std]

Ariake Technologies Logic Arrest Omni-Tool [SPC]

Serrice Council Savant Omni-Tool [SOF]

Aldrin Labs Solaris L5x Biotic Amps [SPC] [SOF]  
  
Precision Rifles

| 

M-97 Volkov Viper Sniper Rifle [Std]

M-99 Saber Marksman Rifle [SOF]

N/M-78 Valiant Sniper Rifle [SOF]

X-98A4 Widow Anti-Material Rifle [Std]

| 

Grenades and Melee Weapons

| 

G-67 Multi-Frag Grenade

G-24 Flashbang Grenade

G-84 Counter-Biotics Grenade

G-367 Homing Grenade

CQ-101 (V1, V2, V3) Omni-Blade

CQ-110 V1 (Hatchet) V2 (Sword) V3 (Tanto)

| 

NSWDG Defender Armor [SOF]

NSWDG Operatives Armor [SOF]

NSWDG Corsair Armor [SOF]

NSWDG Paladin Armor [SOF]

NSWDG Slayer Armor [SOF]

NSWDG Demolisher Armor [SOF]

| 

M-350 Chain Gun

M-186 Guided Mortar

Mk 38 Guided Artillery Gun

Mk 46 Autocannon

M-197 MAC Howitzer

| 

M-082 Tactical Mover

M-083 Ambulance

M-084 Engineering Vehicle

M-088 Mobile Rocket Artillery System/GARDIAN Truck

M-398 Light Strike Vehicle

| 

A-61 Dragonfly Gunship

F-61 Trident Multirole Fighter

F-78 Akula Missile Corvette

| 

Jotun Automated Sentry Mech

Fenrir KEI-9 Support Mech

Sleipnir FT-401 Load-bearing Mech

Wingman Combat Assistant Mech  
  
Medium Machine Guns

| 

N/M-76 Typhoon Light Machine Gun [SOF]

M-J808 General Purpose Machine Gun

| 

Handguns, Carbines and PDWs

| 

M-5 Phalanx Offensive Handgun [Std]

N/M-5 Eagle Multipurpose Handgun [SOF]

M-358 Talon Shotpistol [SOF]

T-24 Seeker Smart Sidearm [SPC]

N/M-26 Hurricane Personal Defense Weapon [Std]

M-12 Locust Low-Signature Weapon [SPC]

| 

T5-V Devastator Battlesuit [SOF]

T12-V Thermopylae Battlesuit [SPC]

E-01S Icarus Drop Pod [SOF]

Triton piloted armor [SPC]

| 

Inferno Precision Kill Rockets

Meteor Area Kill Rockets

Scalpel Tactical Missiles

Arrow Air-to-Air/Ground-to-Space Missiles

Thanix Ground-to-Space Missiles

Javelin Ground-To-Space Missiles

M-0041 GARDIAN Systems

| 

| 

| 

Glyph Holo-drone

Chimera Microdrone

UC-07 Samruk Air Combat Drone

Harpy Air Defense Drone

Anubis Ground Combat drone  
  
_Systems Alliance Military Structure: Army_

While the Marine Corps are the primary combat force, the SA army is the primary occupier and security force of the Alliance. Not as professional as the marine force, the army works as garrison troops and military police. The army is made up of irregulars, who train once a week, and do fortnightly exercises once a year. The army training is under the A code, going up to A5 level. The army is the second line of defense in Class-A worlds; while Class-B and Class-C colonies are guarded entirely by the army. The army acts as the reserve force and second line of defense in fortress worlds and home worlds with a sizable presence, mostly made up of colonist volunteers. Some colonies, who prefer to be distant from the Alliance, raise their own Colonial Militia (for example, the Theban Phalanx in the Terminus world of Anhur) which are not to be considered a part of the army.

The Alliance Army's primary role is combining the massive reservist detachments of the Systems Alliance citizen-soldiers during the time of war, and committing conscription procedures to recruit required personnel. Most of the conscript and reservist units, with the exception of units called into marine service, are raised into army divisions and regiments. During the time of war, the Systems Alliance Army becomes a behemoth of hundreds of millions of soldiers, eclipsing the Marines and the Navy. 

_Systems Alliance Military Structure: Earth Defense Forces_

The United Nations Security Command is Earth’s defense agency, comprising of the Earth Defense Forces. The EDF is made up of soldiers from various nations and coalitions, and has ground forces, oceanic navies and atmospheric air forces.

Although not under the purview of SA, the UNSC EDF is the most powerful ground force of humanity. Made up of the militaries of nations who are members of the UN (minus the UNIN members), the EDF numbers at about 20 million active soldiers, along with 15 million reservists. It is divided into various regional commands. Each command focuses on a continent or similar geographical location. Commands are headed by generals. The EDF is a mixture of Divisions and Brigades, as different militaries on Earth use different structures. UNSC uses a complex comparison system for equivalency. During times of conflict, units are deployed according to necessity – lower intensity conflicts are addressed with Brigades, while larger conflicts are met with divisions and field armies, along with aircraft carrier support and sometimes orbital fire support.

EDF Regional Commands are listed below:

North America Command (NORTHCOM) – United North American States forces; based on Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

South and Central America Command (SOUTHCOM) – South American Confederation forces; based on Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Europe Command (EURCOM) – European Union and Eurasian Federation forces; based on Lyon, France and Kazan, Eurasian Republic of Russia.

Central Asia Command (CENTCOM) – Eurasian Federation, Israeli and Arab forces; based on Tashkent, Eurasian Republic of Uzbekistan and Amman, Kingdom of Arabia.

Eastern Command (EASTCOM) – Chinese, Korean, Japanese and East Asian Coalition forces; based on Hanoi, East Asian Coalition and Shenzhen, Chinese People’s Federation.

South Asia Command (SOUTHCOM) – South Asian Federation forces; based on Dehradun, India and Kabul, Afghanistan.

Africa Command (AFRICOM) – African Forces; based on Bloemfontein, South Africa and Kinshasa, Congo.

Pacific Command (PACOM) – Oceanian forces; based on Adelaide, Oceania Confederate.

Special Operations Command (SOCOM) – Special Operations Groups (SOG) 1 through 17. The collection of EDF’s special forces.

The EDF is credited with one of the most difficult conflicts of the Reaper War – the fall of Earth. They were at a complete disadvantage due to the lack of any fleet support. Most of the oceanic navy was thoroughly decimated by Reaper capital ships, and only a handful of air force bases remained. The EDF held on and refused to resort to nuclear weapons, even in the face of annihilation. During the battle of Earth, as TF Hammer was concentrating on London, EDF forces bogged the Reapers down all over Western and Central Europe. The entirety of the Italian air force was sacrificed to kill 17 Reaper destroyers over Milan, which were trying to move towards the UK. UNAS ground forces sacrificed themselves in great numbers to stop the Reapers from crossing the Atlantic. Oceanian forces with Chinese support provided a safe landing zone for Hammer TF, on the dark side of Earth. In the UK, EDF special operations groups paved the way for TF Hammer by eliminating strongholds in Manchester, Kent, Dublin and Liverpool. Numerous units have won gallantry awards for their contribution.

It is generally accepted that the battle of Earth could not be won without the EDF’s actions. Although they did not have any major victories like the Miracle of Palaven, no other force was able to hold on without support like them.

The EDF is similar in capability and structure to the SAMC, and they use compatible equipment. They also use the same vocational code system and ranks of the Systems Alliance. Their soldiers are equally capable as the SAMC marines. A large portion of the SAMC, especially in the 1st Marine Division, are transferees from EDF. EDF special operators are often invited into N7 units and the Intelligence Services.

_Systems Alliance Military Structure: Special Operations and Intelligence Services_

Humans as a race are ingenuous, and their warfare has always been based on novel tactics and innovation. The concept of highly-trained unconventional warfare units was late to catch on in most galactic militaries, except the Asari Commandos and the STG; even their special operators were created due to their natural talent for biotics (asari) or their tendency for covertness (STG). Humans however have been practicing this doctrine since the early twentieth century. Commandos, or special operators, were crucial in both human world wars and the extrasolar war of 2130. These warfighters have evolved through the last three centuries and now humanity boasts probably the most capable special operations forces in the galaxy.

Human SOF units come from four branches – the EDF, the SAMC, the Alliance Navy and the Alliance Intelligence Services (AIS). The vocational code for special operations is N1 through N7. All of the SOF units are under Systems Alliance Special Operations Command (SASOC). SASOC is comprised of four components: Battle Element, Intelligence Element, Reconnaissance Element and Maneuver Element.

_Special Operations: Structure, Units and the N-class_

A marine who has completed B7 infantry, C5 biotics, G5 engineering or S5 surveillance training is deemed eligible for special forces training. The requirements are similar for EDF soldiers. Navy servicemen need to go through A-class onboard combat training up to grade A5 to apply. The N-class training takes place in Interplanetary Combative Academy in Rio de Janeiro. The ICA, nicknamed “Vila Militar” and “The Villa”, is known for running one of the harshest and most challenging commando courses in the galaxy. The initial training for new recruits focuses on ground forces small-unit tactics; trainees face scenarios derived from real-life SOF missions. A trainee will be on the field or a class 20 hours a day, learning various tactics and weapon skills. If a recruit passes the initial course, he is awarded N1 designation and is invited to come back. Subsequent training is specialized, consisting from N2 through N4. The regimens include instruction in zero-G combat, military free-fall (parachuting), jet-boot/jet-pack flight, combat diver qualification (combat diving), close-quarter combat, linguistics, frontline trauma care for human and alien biology (first responder/combat lifesaver training), demolitions and assault procedures.

After graduating N1, servicepersons are considered 'Advanced Combatant' grade and are eligible to be in advanced marine squads. Graduating N4 grade provides the N5 special operator badge and is the basic eligibility for joining an SOF unit. Those with S, C, G specializations may also attend specialized schools related to their field; forward observers may attend naval gunfire training and close air support courses; pilots and mechanized soldiers learn how to drive, maintain, and shoot from several types of vehicles and powered armor; communications specialists attend joint communications courses, advanced omni-tool training and drone operating techniques.

N5 special operators are recruited into Tier 3 SOF units. Field experience and further training grants the N6 badge and are recruited into Tier 2 SOF. The final grade, N7 is presented to a recruit after a SERE course conducted in Jupiter’s moon, Europa. N7 is the only designation that can be worn on Dress Uniforms.

_Marine SOF_

The Marine Corps Special Operations Group (MARSOG) is the SOF Battle Group for the SAMC. Divided into four Regiments, it focuses on all four of the special ops elements: Battle, Reconnaissance, Intelligence and Maneuver.

Marine SOF’s Battle element is twofolds: The Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) and the Drop Assault Combat Brigade (DAC Brigade).

A) The SRR consists of six N-class Special Reconnaissance Brigades. Based on the historical Royal Marines and US Army Rangers, these units are the most elite light infantry units of the SAMC. Commonly referred to as Marine Commandos, they are also called “Special Recon”, “Recces”, or “SR”. Each SR brigade has its own combat specialty.

The 1st SR “Berserkers” and 2nd SR “Legionnaires” brigades specialize in direct action, seizure missions, shock combat or counter-insurgency missions.

The 3rd SR “Ninjas” and 4th SR “Jaegers” brigades specialize in deep reconnaissance, intel-gathering, long-range patrol etc. missions.

The 5th SR “Pyros” brigade specializes in combat demolitions, anti-hardening heavy weapons, drones and omni-tool warfare.

The 6th SR “Snake Eaters” brigade specializes in unconventional warfare, information warfare and foreign internal defense.

B) The Drop Assault Combat Brigade is a Tier 2 SOF unit, entirely made up of N6-grade operators, called DACTs (Drop Assault Combat Trooper). It specializes in spaceborne low-orbit insertions, and military free-fall. Based on the legendary "Paras" of Earth, the DAC brigade is the only true airborne unit of the SAMC. Nicknamed “Corsairs”, the DACTs operate in a manner similar to the Turian Armiger Legions. They excel at the use of jetpacks, drop capsules and power armors. Nimble enough to maneuver between tight spaces such as high-rise buildings, and possessing extreme firepower and endurance, they are some of the heaviest infantry units of the SAMC. Their missions have historically included seizure operations, direct action and CSAR missions deep behind the lines. They are trained to operate deep behind enemy lines, with little to no support, which has developed a tendency for disregarding chain of command - thus the pirate moniker. 

C) The Reconnaissance Element of MARSOG is the Combat Infiltration Brigade. Made up of S7-grade surveillance operatives, they are the continuation of pre-Blitz AMRU and Hunter Platoon units, who specialize in scout-sniper-sabotage operations. The CIB either deploys six-man squads or two-man scout sniper teams on the battlefield. The squads carry surveillance/sabotage equipment such as drones or tactical missiles; while the kill teams, equipped with the finest sniper rifles – usually N/M-78 Valiant or Black Widows, can deliver precision fire from incredible distances; making them perfectly suited for assassination missions.

D) The Maneuver Element of MARSOG is fulfilled by the 1st Special Mechanized Brigade. Consisting vehicles, mechs, power armors and unmanned vehicles, they provide transportation, fire support and maneuver capabilities to the other elements. Their vehicles consist of various up-armored civilian trucks (technicals), M-398 Light Strike Vehicles, All-Terrain vehicles, ND1 Nomad rovers, M-40 Tiger weapons platforms and UT-47C Polar combat shuttles. For mechs, they use the Jotun automated sentry mech, the Fenrir KEI-9 and the Sleipnir load-bearing mechs. For power armors, they use the Triton, the Thermopylae and the T5-V Devastator battle-suits. They also use Glyph holographic drones, Chimera microdrones, Samruk and Harpy UCAVs, and B-46 'Anubis' UGV weapons platforms.

_Navy SOF_

Alliance Navy has its own share of SOF units, taking cues from historical SEALs, frogmen units and special boat services. 

A) The main battle component of the Naval special forces is the Naval Special Warfare Group. The navy has two NSW groups – one operates from Arcturus, and the other from Franklin. The groups are named NSWG-Terminus and NSWG-Arcturus. These two groups are divided into smaller elements, each focusing on a specific sector of space. The sectors are divided into ‘Teams’, units of flexible size and capability. Since the navy requirement for ICA training is lower in terms of combat training (A-class training is only up to A5), and navy servicemen tend to be more technically knowledgeable than the marines, NSW operators are almost always cross-trained and specialized. An NSW team has an equal mix of combat specialists, infiltrators, vanguards and sentinels. Many operators classify as highest-grade specialists within their classes. Thus, NSW Groups are able to handle a wider range of missions than the marine Special Recon units. Their missions include close-quarters combat, hostage rescue, undercover infiltration, direct action, hunter-killer missions, reconnaissance and intel-gathering and counterterrorism missions.

The teams, focusing on all four of the special ops elements, have individual different mission criteria and capability. There are specialized infiltration, engineering, intelligence and stealth teams in both groups. Teams generally consist of 320 combat personnel. Teams are divided into four squadrons or strike forces consisting of eighty operators each. Strike Forces are further divided into five 16-man sections, each section in turn consisting of either four 4-man reconnaissance/intel cells or two 8-man battle/maneuver cells. Cells are also called fireteams. Each team also has integrated support elements and a dedicated NSWDG element. In total, a team's size consists of 500 personnel.

There are 40 NSW teams divided into eight sectors. Each of the sectors have one team at Tier 2 level, designated for deep reconnaissance and covert activities, often into Terminus, Yahg, Krogan and Batarian space. Entirely made up of N6 operators, these Tier 2 teams (Team 4 “Delta", Team 7 "Titans", Team 17 "Falcons", Team 19 "Zeta", Team 21 “Phoenix”, Team 27 "Prometheans", Team 34 "Trishul" and Team 37 "Scorpions") are expected to have Hunter and Spearhead-level soldiers, Assassin and Infiltrator-level scouts, Nemesis and Raider-level vanguards and Guardian sentinels.

B) The reconnaissance element of Navy SOF is the Combat Controller Group. The CCG is made up of technical and communications experts, utilizing laser and sonar designators, communicators and QEC to direct air support or orbital fire. CCs are an integral part of any SOF unit, marine or navy. They literally hold the key to massive amounts of firepower. The combat controllers are not just comms operators; they are accomplished scouts, saboteurs and assaulters in their own. Each combat controller is at least a highly trained warrior, having Assaulter-class combat training as well as G7-level engineering backgrounds. They hold their own amongst marine commandos or naval frogmen.

C) The navy’s Maneuver Element SOF unit is the Special Operations Aviation Group. This group flies transport and air support vehicles for the operators, and are amongst the most skilled helmsmen in the Alliance. They operate everything from Kodiak shuttles to Akula corvettes, and operate in synergy with combat controllers to provide support fire.

_Independent SOF_

A) The Rapid Response Units (RRU) are the Army’s and colonial militias’ SOF unit. Essentially a cross between SWAT teams and elite light infantry, these units are recruited from colonial law enforcement agencies. Deployed in the case of overwhelming terrorist and pirate threats, these units are fiercely brave and loyal to their cause, albeit prone to violence. They have turned the tide of many battles against pirates, slavers and other Terminus threats, snatching victory from the jaws of certain annihilation.

The RRUs are noticeable for one other thing; their very high rate of mortality. The average casualty rate for an RRU is more than 50%, with several RRUs have had been completely annihilated by enemy attacks. They had, however, held the line until the very end, until SAMC reinforcements arrived.

B) The Advanced Combatant Regiment (ACR) consists of biotic and tech specialists. 1st Biotics Brigade is made up of C7-grade Bastion adepts and C7/G7 cross-trained Guardian sentinels. The Special Engineering Brigade consists of G7 Mechanic-class and N6 Saboteur-class combat engineers. These units tend to operate with a SR detachment, providing support and precision fire.

C) The Special Clandestine Service (SCS) is a dedicated paramilitary unit under the purview of AIS, who conduct black operations which may be deemed illegal in Citadel law. Their focus is on gaining sensitive intelligence or retrieving sensitive assets from deep behind enemy lines, assassination, monitor-and-destroy operations against troubling elements, and psychological warfare. They carry no identification, use enemy weapons, and will not be recognized by the Arcturus Parliament if captured or killed. Ground Branch is considered the most secretive unit in the entire Systems Alliance. An S7/G7/N6 designation is the bare minimum requirements to be considered for SCS. They recruit members from the N6 and N7 units, EDF intelligence agencies and sometimes from law enforcement. Operators from the 6th SR, NSW infiltration teams and the Combat Infiltration Brigade are highly sought after by SCS.

D) The EDF Special Operations Groups (SOG) are the culmination of Earth's special operation capabilities. These units focus on planetary special operations and low-intensity planet-side conflicts. The SOGs consist of the national SOF units. There are 17 Special Operations Groups, such as:

SOGs 1, 2 and 3 are UNAS SOF (American Delta Force, Navy SEALs, Canadian JTF, FBI Hostage Rescue Team, FEMA Emergency Response Unit etc.). SOGs 4, 5 and 6 are EU SOF (SAS, RM Cdo, RPIMa, GIGN, KSK, GROM, FSK, KCT etc.). SOGs 7, 8 and 9 are EF (mostly Russian Spetsnaz and Turkish Maroon Berets) SOF. SOG 10 is Chinese SOF. SOG 11 is South Asian SOF. SOG 12 and 13 are Far Eastern SOF (707 SMB, Kopassus, Pascal, Thai Scout Rangers etc.). SOGs 14 and 15 are Oceanian Federation (SASR, NZSAS, AUS Cdo etc.). SOG 16 is African SOF (Reccondos, Seluous Scouts etc.). SOG 17 is South American SOF (BOPE, Kaibiles, Unidad etc.). 

_N7: Combat Applications Group_

The N7-grade operators are the best warfighters in the entire human species. They come from all branches of service – the marines, the navy and EDF. These specialists are masters in their vocations, and always qualify for the highest grade in their class. Although a few N7s operate with other units, most of them are part of the Combat Applications Group. CAG is considered to be an omni-role, “go anywhere, fight anything” unit, and are tasked with the most challenging missions. A sizable detachment of specialists from CAG was an integral part of TF Hercules during the Reaper War, and they led the galaxy in some of the most crucial fights. CAG is considered on par with Turian BlackWatch, Asari Commando Regiments and the Salarian STG as the premier special operations units in the galaxy. They consist of Hunter and Destroyer-class assaulters, Shadow infiltrators, Slayer vanguards, Paladin sentinels, Fury adepts and Demolisher engineers. They don the best armor (Defender armor, Operatives armor, Specialist armor, and other class-specific armor) and carry the best weapons from around the galaxy.

CAG is divided into four squadrons or strike forces. The squadrons each handle a sector of space. Squadrons are divided into fireteams of 3-7 specialists. CAG black squadron works extensively with Alliance Intelligence Service.

**SASOC Operator Classification System**

The Alliance special operations units assign combat classes based on the vocation and abilities of a special operator. The classes vary according to tiers. Tier 3 SOF are considered to be at Expert level, Tier 2 at Advanced level and Tier 1 at Master level.

**Class**

| 

**Expert (N5)**

| 

**Advanced (N6)**

| 

**Master (N7)**  
  
---|---|---|---  
  
Assault

| 

Assaulter/Heavy

| 

Hunter/Spearhead/SPC Heavy

| 

SPC Hunter/SPC Spearhead/Destroyer  
  
Scout/Sniper

| 

Marksman

| 

Infiltrator/Assassin

| 

SPC Infiltrator/Shadow  
  
Vanguard

| 

Raider

| 

Nemesis

| 

SPC Raider/Slayer  
  
Sentinel

| 

Defender

| 

Guardian

| 

Paladin  
  
Biotic

| 

Adept

| 

Bastion

| 

Fury  
  
Engineer

| 

Mechanic

| 

Saboteur

| 

Demolisher  
  
Assaulters are all-round combatants; heavies are weapons specialists clad in Thermopylae battle-suits. Hunter commandos rely on precise rifle fire and tactical maneuvers, while the shock commandos, called “spearheads” use turbocharge implants and specialize in rushing and flanking. Destroyers are advanced heavy commandos in Devastator battle-suits, wielding heavy weapons.

Marksmen are standard scout snipers, Raider vanguards are standard biotic/CQB combatants. N5 and N6 Sentinels use tech armor, portable covers, first aid and support equipment, while the Paladin carries an Omni-Shield or barricade. SOF Adepts generally forego heavy weapons to rely solely on their biotics, Saboteurs and Demolishers use mechs and drones to suppress and break enemy lines.

Infiltrators are omni-tool and infowar experts, Assassins and Shadows are cloaking and stealth specialists. Slayer vanguards use powerful biotics combined with martial arts and blade weapons, while Nemesis vanguards rely on biotic attacks with sporadic grenade, mine and tanglewire usage.

Every class and level have weapon preferences. Some classes have two tiers, denoted by SPC or ‘Specialist’ badge.

In the SASOC; infiltrators, shadows and slayers are the most rare specialist units. Most of them can only be found in CAG, CIB or NSW infiltration teams.

_Alliance Intelligence Service (AIS)_

The Alliance Intelligence Service is the Intelligence arm of SA. They conduct operations all around the galaxy, investigating and monitoring interests of humanity on behalf of the Arcturus Parliament. The AIS is neither as technologically adept as the STG or as vast as the Hierarchy Defense Intelligence (HDI). Nevertheless, they are extremely focused and capable at what they do, and produce accomplished spies.

As their modus operandi, the AIS stands apart from conventional forces; the most cooperation they have is with the Strategic Support Corps. 

The AIS is divided into various Directorates, such as:

Directorate of Analysis – This division focuses on collecting, analyzing and monitoring strategic intelligence, from extranet sources to advanced QEC communication. All of the ELINT and HUMINT is provided to them for analyzing. It is considered the parent division for other Directorates.

Directorate of Operations – This division specializes in collecting human intelligence, by deploying live reconnaissance and surveillance teams in the field. AIS field agents belong to this division. The AIS agents turn and create assets, utilize various hacking and eavesdropping methods to collect intelligence. Their method of operations is known as “tactical collection”. The directorate also operates the Special Clandestine Service (SCS), nicknamed “Ground Branch”. 

Directorate of Signals – This division is focused on collecting electronic and signals intelligence from all sources. The best cryptographers and computer specialists of the Alliance work in this division, procuring intelligence from all around the galaxy. In an offensive capability, they are the premier cyberwarfare and information warfare unit of the Alliance.

Directorate of Research – This division is focused on producing high-tech equipment for the AIS and the Alliance, and studying high-tech equipment of their allies and enemies.

The AIS had operated alongside STG and HDI during the heydays of Batarian piracy. During the Reaper War, AIS was instrumental in organizing resistance in some Reaper-controlled worlds. Their main mission was against Cerberus, monitoring and repelling several Cerberus attacks and liberating planets from Cerberus activities. The liberation of Noveria is considered one of the greatest victories of the AIS, during which ground branch agents assassinated the heads of Noverian Development Corporation and their Cerberus benefactors, and destroyed several fighter bases in one single day. This had paved the way for an invasion by SAMC SR brigades, and within a week the occupiers were kicked out. They also organized and trained the resistance in Ontarom and Benning, until the main battle element of marines could arrive and liberate the planets.

In the postwar era, the AIS jointly operates with other galactic intelligence agencies; their main focus nowadays is monitoring the Krogan repopulation and any arising movements of the Yahg.


	3. Culture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Human Culture, ranging from literature to pornography.

_Humanity: Culture_

Humanity as a whole do not have a single mindset to anything. Thus, due to not having a militaristic, functional outlook at life like the turians, or the tendency to devote their lives to science or finance like the salarians or the volus; humanity has a very diverse cultural history. The culture and lifestyle of humans will vary from world to world, continent to continent, and even city to city. It is indeed, very interesting to observe.

Humans are generally seen to be very intelligent, abnormally ambitious, highly adaptable, individualistic and thus, unpredictable. They have a powerful desire to advance and improve themselves, and do so with such assertion that the normally staid Council races have been taken aback by their restlessness and relentless curiosity.

_Globalization, Equality and Identity_

The discovery of the Martian ruins fundamentally united the inhabitants of Earth, resulting in the swift and sudden culmination of the pan-global cultural identity that had been slowly but steadily developing since the 21st century. Upon the foundation of the Systems Alliance, humans began to see themselves as a single, collective group: human as opposed to alien. This has eliminated racism and gender inequality to a great degree. Both males and females, of every race and color, work together in military, non-military and domestic roles.

After the establishment of colonies, a new kind of tribalism came into being: Earthborn versus colonist. The colonists, especially the ones on the verge of Terminus Systems, began to see themselves apart from Earthers. Ironically, the cultures of colonies are rooted into Earth culture: the initial colonists, after all, came from Earth. Cities on Watson, Elysium and Bekenstein can pass as any Earth megapolis, from similar urban planning to celebrating the same festivals. However, class-A colonies tend to hold themselves distinct from Earth and a Terran identity.

_Language_

Due to the multiculturalism among humans, there are hundreds of languages still spoken. Human translator technology was already very advanced even before first contact, virtually negating the need to learn a second language other than the one born with. However, due to traditions, most humans are bilingual or trilingual, some speak more than five or six languages; including alien tongues.

English is the _lingua franca_ of humanity and also the most spoken language, followed closely by Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic and Hindi. Other popular languages include Portuguese, Russian, French, Swahili, Farsi and Bengali. Some humans learn asari and turian tongues to better assimilate with their cultures.

The spacer and colonist humans speak various forms of creole and pidgin languages, rooted into Earth languages but later mutated out of recognition.

_Religion_

Religion was, and to an extent, still is a major part of human culture, despite the fact that society is largely secular by the 22nd century. The discovery of the archives led to a series of commotions among those belonging to fundamentalist faiths, which ultimately resulted in the disintegration or revision of these religious beliefs. Catholicism maintains a presence in human culture; however, its followers and influence have diminished radically since the 21st century, especially after the discovery of the Mars Archives. The assassination of Pope Clement XVI and subsequent replacement by Leo XIV in 2171, believed to have been Cerberus’ doing, brought out a very militant face of the belief. People became disconnected and alienated from it and now, Christianity as a whole, including evangelism, orthodox and Protestantism is on the brink of extinction; followed by Judaism.

Islam, once one of the largest religions, has severely diminished, with a few million followers spread dispersedly on Earth and the colony of Uqbar. The belief never recovered from its days of being linked with terrorism during early 2000s, and the leading clerics’ denial of aliens existing further detached it from people. Islam has tried to revise its teachings under Sufi scholars; however, it probably will never get back to its heydays of billions of followers.

The most popular religious beliefs in humanity are Zen Buddhism, Confucianism and Neo-Hinduism. These ancient religions radically revised themselves at the onset of space exploration, providing a welcoming outlook to universal cohabitation. The asari Siarist belief, the turian Spirit belief and the drell Pantheon are also gaining popularity amongst humanity, especially in the colonies.

_Festivals_

Human festivals are mostly based on tradition and not on reasonability. The festivals that current humans celebrate have been celebrated for the last millennium or so, only a few new inclusions have become universal.

St. Valentine's Day, a holiday themed around romantic love and the greeting card industry, is immensely popular on Earth and the human colonies. This festival, based on gaining a mating partner’s favor, has been around for centuries. Through humans living in other worlds, it has become popular among the asari and volus (who embrace its unusual mix of commerce and reproduction). Several festivals began as religious ones, but now has adopted a secular nature. Among these are Christmas, Halloween, Diwali, Passover and Eid-al-Fitr (the latter requiring various mathematical calculations to fix the date). Chinese New Year and Gregorian New Year are both celebrated, the latter all across the galaxy now. Since the Gregorian calendar is synced with the galactic calendar, New Year’s Eve has become an inter-species festival, with celebrations taking place on numerous worlds, and even on Thessia and Palaven.

There are other non-traditional and historical festivals celebrated. The colony of Shanxi celebrate ‘Liberation Day’, as a remembrance of its liberation from turian occupiers. Elysians celebrate ‘Blitz Day’, for the repelling of batarian invaders during the Skyllian Blitz. Almost all nations on Earth and human colonies celebrate “Victory Day”, to commemorate the victory in the battle of Earth and the vanquishing of the Reapers.

Some regional festivals have garnered galaxy-wide fame for their energy and entertainment purposes. The Rio Carnival, the Oktoberfest, the Glastonbury music festival and the Holi are popular amongst human, asari, turian alike.

_Film and Media_

Humans used various chemical compounds to capture images prior to digitization. The technology to capture motion picture and the film industry was initiated about three hundred years ago, in the former USA. The North American film industry, now galactically known by its nickname “Hollywood”, has been the leading industry in human filmmaking for the entirety of this tenure. It is closely followed by the Indian industry, and various Far Eastern industries like the Korean industry and the Chinese industry. Films tend to be produced in 8K Supra-max theater displays, 3D holo-displays, and augmented-reality simulations. Live performances such as plays, ballets, operas or cabarets are considered high art and a sign of sophistication.

European Union differs starkly in this regard. The European (especially French) culture has always held high art in respect, and they generally tend to look down on the mainstream motion pictures. European cinema is based on artistic, _avant-garde_ aspects and are generally not commercial.

Human cinema has evolved along with technology. Old-style theaters still exist for premiers and plays, but it is supplemented by streaming and augmented-reality products. The entertainment giants Westerlund Corporation, Mimetic Entertainment and Disney-Tencent produce large volumes of media. Consumers, who pay subscription fees for data-pads, holo-screens and augmented-reality simul-domes, get to enjoy movies, serials, documentaries, vidcast discussions and live simulations. Popular genres include action, comedy, romance, horror and immersion. Cultural phenomena like ‘Star Wars’, ‘Terminator’, ‘John Wick’, and ‘Rocky’ have become popular amongst other species.

Pornography is also very popular, with a separate industry. Asari and female Quarian pornography seems to be extremely popular with human males. Adult actors can either perform choreographed scenes, or engage in improvised streaming sessions on their personal extranet services.

The fringe, alternate-media movement in human media is of interest. Like artistic productions, these media also tend to look down upon the mainstream. However, they consist of genres deemed ‘low’, ‘uncultured’, ‘unethical’ and ‘unsocial’ by the mainstream. The alt-media include brutalist pornography, dark and gory films, action with brutal and gory scenes, and various anti-society themes.

_Sports_

The advent of augmented reality and the scarcity of physical playing ground has seen virtual games take the spotlight and field games take a back seat in human culture. Various games, played on devices ranging from dedicated gaming consoles to omni-tools are one of the biggest entertainment sources of humans. Roleplaying games, action games and various other genres exist. Galaxy-spanning online multiplayer games like _Slayers, Code of Honor_ and _Galaxy of Fantasy_ are very popular amongst humans as a method of passing time. Non-competitive games also include chess, poker, solitaire (all of which are extremely popular with elcor, turians and asari), Ludo etc. The elcor and the asari both have a talent for chess, and almost half the grandmasters in current the current chess scene are either elcor or asari. Turians and batarians have taken to poker very well. Galactic games like Quasar, Kepesh-Yakshi or Shattered Eezo are also very popular amongst humans.

Humans are very keen towards competitive sports. There are various human teams participating in galactic leagues of various sports. They have also introduced several competitive sports to the galactic community. Popular human sports include North American Union Rules Football (Gridiron in short), Association Football (Soccer in short), Basketball and Mixed Martial Arts. All of these sports have now made their place in the galactic stadiums.

Human gridiron is played in krogan and turian worlds; the very best of them are recruited into the NFL. In the recent series’, most of the NFL players are tending to be non-human.

Basketball, very similar to turian clawball, is immensely popular amongst turians. Both the games are essentially the same – only the turians can gnaw the ball with their talons. Many turian clawball players have shifted to basketball, using their height and reach to become more and more effective than humans. The first NBL-Clawball Galactic Championship was held on 2180, it is now one of the most popular events in galactic entertainment. The game rules are an amalgamation of both games, and sees players from both species as well as batarians, drell and even vorcha.

Soccer also sees a similar scenario – species with extreme dexterity, such as salarians and drell are playing professional soccer on Earth and doing very good at it. The Galactic League features teams from human, salarian and turian worlds, and from Kahje and Rakhana. It is turning into the most popular sport in the galaxy, as it neither requires claws nor biotics to play.

The human sport of mixed martial arts is also very popular amongst galactic denizens, especially krogan, batarians, drell and turians. There are nine weight classes, separate weight classes of Ultra-Heavyweight and Megaweight have been created for krogan competitors. Turians and drell tend to give serious competition to humans nowadays – five out of nine weight class titles except UHW and MW are held by turians and drell.

Humans participate in various pre-established galactic sports. Pildavi, or biotiball, is one of the more popular games in human worlds, as well as elsewhere in the galaxy. Although at first humans were seriously outmatched by the asari, nowadays teams like the Seattle Sorcerers give serious competition to the Thessian or Illian teams.

Humans are surprisingly good at two galactic sports – combat simulations and motorsports. The Evali Motodrome Championships and Intersolar Motorsports Series drew immense attraction from humans as soon as they were integrated into the galactic community. Fifty years later, the motorsports teams from Scuderia Nezo-Ferrari Transportation, Petronus-McLaren, and ExSolar-Porsche are leading franchises in the IMS. Ariake-Honda, Guanghui-Renault and Hoshichiri-Subaru are formidable competitors in the various obstacle rallies on the Evali Motodromes. The first human championship on IMS came via Petronus-McLaren in 2188. Currently, the IMS series has two circuits on Earth – the legendary Monte Carlo circuit in EU, and the Dragon Arena in Beijing, CPF. In 2178, the EMC included the Le Mans track on Earth in its racing series. These sporting events have created a surge in the purchase of ground vehicles as opposed to flyers in human worlds.

Since the advent of augmented reality, it has become every teenager’s dream to one day fight for the Rhode Islands Knights or the Edmonton Blood Dragons. Earth’s Urban Combat Championship is very similar to the galactic league, holding solo, three-person and six-person games. Devlon Industries combat simulators are spread all across Earth and colonies, hosting casual player-vs-VI matches. Competitive matches of UCC are held in arenas, and are live telecasted. Franchises from UCC participate in the galactic urban combat league, too. The Rhode Island Knights are two-time champions in GUCL, their signature Reckoner-Knight armor has achieved some breakthroughs that have been adopted by several militaries as well.


End file.
